Seattle

I spent last week in Seattle. I went for work and then got to spend the weekend with a friend, just seeing the sights and having fun. It's a beautiful area.

 

I went to my first (possibly last since I'm not a baseball fan) major league baseball game. I had a great time but that was mostly due to who I was with, not where I was.

 

No trip to Seattle is complete without the Space Needle, right?

 

View from the needle

 

 

 

Shoreline from Discovery Park

 

Snoqualmie Falls - a fun little side trip to get out of the city

 

 

And then of course there is Pike's market. I only wish I could have tried food from all of the shops. It all smelled so good.

 

 It was a great trip even though I'm happy to be back home.

Niagara Falls

So I spend last week working in Auburn, NY. I have never been to NY at all and thought it was a beautiful area. After work on Thursday and friend and I went shopping at some outlet malls in the area and then drove to Niagara Falls for the weekend. We stayed on the Canadian side. The falls were pretty fun to see and get wet in the mist. I could have done without the more touristy parts but overall all, I’m glad I went. Plus, Canada has the good kind of chocolate that you can get in Europe.
It was a fun mini vacation and I can cross Niagara Falls off my list.

American Falls

Part of Queen Victoria park, I think.

Horseshoe Falls

more Horseshoe Falls

 

Here I am in the lovely rain poncho they give you. Not the best place to take pictures but it was fun to do the ferry ride.

Maid of the Mist ferry

view at night

 

American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls at night

 

Ice cream and bubbles

It was a great weekend. I started out a bit restless on Friday night. After work, I sat down and finished my book and it was so good and kind of emotional at the end.  So then I was restless. I paced around doing little things like picking up some of my clutter, putting away laundry, etc. It’s funny how I am always kind of sad when I finish a really good book. It’s a kind of mourning for friends that you won’t see again.. at least not until a re-read. And I simply cannot start another book so soon after a good one like that.

Saturday, I played with the kids. I guess I was technically babysitting. I offered to take them to Dinosaur Park, but they didn’t want to so instead we played with my tinker toys and then went outside and played and blew bubbles.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE blowing bubbles. What is it about sitting on the grass in the sunshine watching bubbles float across the yard? It’s such a great, relaxing feeling.  And I don’t do it by myself (although I don’t know why not since I love it so much) so I always like to get the bubbles out when the kids come over.

After bubbles we went to Farr’s for ice cream.  It was a bit crowded in the little ice cream shop so we got our cones and went outside and sat on some steps near the parking and out of the sun.  The people who had been in line before us were getting into their van and the driver let out a huge burp. The kids are at that age where it was hilarious to them but I told them they couldn’t laugh out loud while all the van windows were down so we all sat there giggling quietly. Then we’d stop but once we caught each other’s eye we would start giggling again. You probably had to be there but we had the best time laughing and eating ice cream.  I love little moments like that.

Spring Fever

Oh man, I’m dying to go somewhere. I’m restless. I have a couple work trips coming up in the summer months so I will be going somewhere, even if it’s for work. Both times I’m going to stay the weekend to have a mini-vacation. And my family is going camping. But that doesn’t help me now.

It’s been a little cool lately but with the flowers and trees blooming and everything turning green, it finally feels like spring. I must have spring fever.  The cure for that is a day off in the sunshine and planting flowers in my planter boxes. One day soon I will that.  And maybe I’ll plan a little vacation. A foreign trip this year is not looking likely but since I did one in both 2011 and 2012 it would be ok to stay a little closer to home this year. I live in Utah. It’s not like there’s not a ton of things to do and see right here.

Mummies and Used Books

I spent a couple hours last weekend in SL going to the Mummies of the World exhibition at The Leonardo. It was very interesting if you like that kind of thing. And I do. Mummies aren’t just from ancient Egypt and they had a nice collection of mummies from all over the world. Most preserved on purpose and some that were not.  The interactive computer screens that let you see some of the science behind the mummies were interesting as well.

I’d like to think I could have been an anthropologist or archeologist in another life.  I find it fascinating to see the existence of people before modern times and glimpses into what they believed and how they lived or what they ate.

After the exhibit I walked across the square to the SL public library where they just happened to be having their semi-annual book sale. Yes, I planned the day to include both. I love library book sales. However, because of recent efforts to purge books from my shelves, I really scaled down my purchases. I could have left with many more books, but I only bought three. And they are books I was already planning to read.  All in all, it was a very nice Saturday.

Book Review: Written in Red by Anne Bishop

Written in Red by Anne Bishop

I’ve never read anything by Anne Bishop before but I read an intriguing review of this one and then saw that my library had it readily available so I decided to give it a try. I loved this book and am not going to even try to pretend any different.

Imagine a world very similar to ours, except in this world the inhabitants that were here first didn’t let the humans take over as they settled the colonies and moved west. Instead there is an uneasy truce where the terra indigene (or Others) and humans co-exist, bartering with each other for things they need or want. The Others that live close to, and interact with humans, live in closed communities called courtyards and human laws don’t apply in the courtyards. When the Others in the Lakeside courtyard take in a runaway human as their liaison and make her one of their own, they won’t give up without a fight when someone tries to take her back.

I was immediately immersed in this alternate reality. The book takes its time describing how the courtyard operates and there are many day to day details. There’s a long setup and the action doesn’t start happening until about 50 pages from the end. This did not bother me one bit. I was so totally wrapped up in the workings of the courtyard, I was surprised when I looked at the pages and saw how far I was. Meg is one of those underdog heroines who learns that she’s stronger than she thought and I really liked her. She is a blood prophet, which means when she cuts herself she has visions. I was a little wary of this going into it, but it turned out to be a very small part of the book and not graphic in details. The Others were my favorite part. I loved them all: Simon, Sam, Tess, Henry, Vlad, Winter, Grandfather Erebus, the Ponies… I can’t even name them all. They are not human and don’t even pretend they want to be. They are a mixture of species: wolves, vampires, elementals, and even a woman who reminds me a lot of Medusa. These characters and this world will be in my head for a very long time.

Really, this is the best new urban fantasy I’ve read in a while. My only complaint is that I had to go and read and love the first book in a brand new series and now I’m stuck waiting for the next one.

Conference Weekend

I aways love general conference weekend. The messages are inspirational and I get to spend time with my family. And I can "attend church" in my pajamas or equivalent. Ever since I've lived on my own, I have the same routine for conference weekend. During the Saturday sessions, I clean my house or sort through clutter and just keep busy. During the Sunday sessions, I go to my parents house and watch it there. As the kids have gotten older, the noise level has increased so I can definitely say I listen closer on Saturday. I'm guessing we'll go full circle and eventually the noise level will decrease again as they all get old enough to sit still and at least not talk, even if they aren't listening.

I used to embroider to keep my hands busy during conference. My mind doesn't wander when my hands are busy. I have a dresser scarf that I have been working on for probably 10 years. The only time I ever get it out is during conference and for the past few years I haven't even bothered. It's hard to embroider when you have kids crawling on you. I'd like to finish it one of these days so I can actually get some use out of it. I guess that means I should actually work on it.

Anyway, it was a nice weekend, even if it was too short. Now the weatherman says we're going to have wind storms tonight so I think when I get home from work, I will make sure everything outside is secure and stay inside for the evening. I have a book to read, so it won't be a problem. :)